Housing associations 'should have more flexibility over property'

12 Jan 11
Housing associations should be free to manage their assets on their own terms, according to research published today.

By Vivienne Russell

12 January 2011

Housing associations should be free to manage their assets on their own terms, according to research published today.

The report, Appreciating assets, produced by the Chartered Institute of Housing and property consultancy Savills, proposes that the social housing regulatory system be amended to allow landlords to manage their stock more flexibly.

New freedoms and clearly defined responsibilities would allow them to respond to local demands, the report says. They could, for example, sell off outmoded properties and rent out vacant properties at higher intermediate or market rents or sell them under a shared ownership scheme. Returns from such activities would allow associations to invest more in building new social housing.

The report concludes that there is the ‘potential to transform associations into the sort of entrepreneurial socially-focused rented property companies which offer a range of products across the whole market, and which this country currently lacks’.

Mervyn Jones, director of portfolio management at Savills, said the report showed that active management of assets could increase housing associations’ financial capacity.

He added: ‘However, turning this capacity into finance for housing will require careful risk management and sophisticated business planning. Pushing rents too hard may not deliver the expected additional capacity.’.

Abigail Davies, head of the policy at the CIH, said: ‘We will be keen to help the sector to develop the strategic skills to understand the dynamics of local housing markets and to plan and manage assets.’

The research was commissioned by four housing associations – L&Q, Bromford, Waterloo and Circle Anglia – ahead of October’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

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